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Cultural education in Berlin

Image: Daniele Ansidei

Enhancing the profile and delivery of cultural education
throughout Berlin’s cultural and educational institutions is
among the central objectives in the area of educational and
cultural policy within the state of Berlin. Efforts in this
area cut across the formal and non-formal education sectors,
including cultural centres and initiatives targeting general
audiences as well as those catering specifically to children
and youth.
With its emphasis on delivering cultural education
opportunities to youth and children, the success of this model
rests on the establishment of strong ties between the diverse
actors in the cultural and arts sectors and Berlin’s schools,
early childcare centres and other youth work providers.
The model’s origins lie in an initiative launched in 2006 to
promote cultural education in Berlin, which was backed by
Berlin’s Council for the Arts (Rat für die Künste) and a
broad coalition of freelance artists, academic advisory boards,
state administrative bodies for education and culture, and a
leading association in the field of cultural education for
children and youth in Berlin (Landesvereinigung kinder- und
jugendkultureller Bildung). The initiative’s primary
objective is to promote and facilitate the active involvement
of children and young people in aesthetic and artistic
processes by establishing cooperative ties between various
institutions for culture and education within Berlin. In doing
so the initiative draws on Berlin’s extraordinarily diverse
international arts and cultural landscapes to drive the growth
and quality of cultural education in Berlin.

The framework for cultural education

In 2008 the Senate departments for education and culture
presented a comprehensive policy framework for cultural
education, taking into account the various roles of a broad
spectrum of relevant actors within this field of activity,
including early childcare services, primary and secondary
schools, providers of youth services, artists and cultural
institutions. The framework identifies and defines three
central priorities and fields of activity for cultural
education in Berlin: preserving existing services and
providers, improving cooperation and strengthening
institutional ties, reaching new target audiences. The Senate
departments report to the House of Representatives at regular
intervals on the implementation of this framework on the basis
of internal progress reports.

Berlin Project Fund

Funding is allocated through the Berlin Project Fund for
Cultural Education in accordance with the policy framework for
cultural education and is directed primarily toward the second
field of activity identified in the policy framework:
“improving cooperation and strengthening institutional
ties”. Approximately €2 million are allocated annually
through the the fund to projects that create opportunities for
children and youth to acquire cultural and aesthetic
competences in both formal and non-formal educational contexts.
Funding is allocated exclusively to joint venture projects
implemented by actors from the educational (early childcare and
education centres / schools / youth centres) and cultural
sectors (cultural institutions / professional artists / actors
from the cultural and creative economy).

Evaluation

The framework for cultural education requires the assessment of
the efficiency and effectiveness (i.e. process evaluation) of
projects allocated funding through this programme and the
regular evaluation of recipients of institutional funding
active in the field of cultural education. The first
assessment, evaluating the work of around sixty recipients of
institutional funding, was published in 2011. The report
provides an overview of the quality, importance and role of art
and cultural mediation undertaken by cultural institutions in
Berlin.

A joint venture of Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH and the
Landesvereinigung kulturelle Jugendbildung, the online platform
“Kubinaut – Navigation Kulturelle Bildung also seeks to
enhance cooperation and build networks. Following in the wake
of intensive efforts to develop and strengthen cultural
education capacities in the German capital, the platform
provides users from Berlin and further afield with a
comprehensive and accessible overview of the diverse actors,
providers and ancillary components of this vibrant
sector.
Incorporating a previously existing database of providers and
users of cultural education services, Kubinaut is a user-driven
platform for networking and cooperation. Launched in autumn
2013, the platform provides an easily accessible space to
celebrate successes, track research developments and review the
role of cultural education across multiple sectors and levels
of governance, including state and federal initiatives within
the Berlin-Brandenburg region. Providing crucial guidance on
project development and funding, Kubinaut – Navigation
Kulturelle Bildung is a meeting place, networking platform,
information resource, talent pool, presentation platform and
archive of outstanding work in the field of cultural education.